Together in Paris
by heartvacancy
Summary: "Hey, this is your favorite movie we're talking about. Anastasia wasn't exactly a girly-girl, you know. You really do fit the job description." Chizu/Ryu. It's my first Kimi ni Todoke fan fiction! T for foul language


I had just re-watched Anastasia during my Kimi ni Todoke obsession and I really saw the resemblance between Chizu and Anya so I thought I'd make something out of it! I think it's going to be a three-part story… I think. I'm not really good in making chaptered fan fictions. It's my first time writing a KNT fan fiction, so please do forgive me if my character portrayals are a bit, if not a lot, out of character.

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own Kimi ni Todoke; all rights belong and credit goes to its creator, Karuho Shīna.

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_**Together in Paris**__, by heartvacancy_

Starring: ?

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Kuronuma Sawako, the class representative, had given up—she was overwhelmed by the noise and excitement radiating from her classmates that she shifted back to the old Sawako (her classmates called this _Sadako-mode_) and she curled under the table. Sure, Kazehaya and the others have greatly affected her personality in a good way, but as the saying goes, old habits die hard. Sawako would revert back to being _Sadako_ when she's stressed, pressured, confused or simply overwhelmed.

"Sawako," Kazehaya comforted his girlfriend, whilst trying to stop the slight curve on his lips from becoming a full-blown smile. He stifled a laugh by covering half of his face with a hand. "S-Sawako, it's okay, don't worry about it."

"Shota," was all she could say. Kazehaya smiled—his girlfriend was simply adorable. He collected her in his arms and gave her a light hug. He whispered comforting words and she slowly brightened up, eventually back to normal.

"Feel better?" he asked, pushing her gently away from him. He can't risk them being seen by Pin in such a position. Although the hug was for an innocent intention, their red-headed adviser could somehow turn it into something really dirty.

Sawako nodded, smiling softly. "_Arigatou_," she whispered, kissing his cheek softly. Kazehaya blinked as his face flushed—his eyes went from right to left, checking if anyone had seen it, especially if it was Pin. He covered his face once more with, this time, both his hands, trying to calm himself. She tilted her head to the side, a little bit confused by the reaction she got from him. "_Daijoubu_?" she asked, panic slightly noticeable by the way she spoke. Kazehaya craned his head a little so he could look at her and he shook his head.

"_Ne_, _ne_," he grinned, "I'm okay."

"Why not Kazehaya play Dmitri?" they heard Joe suggest out of the blue. Sawako gasped at the idea—it wasn't that she didn't want them to get paired. Actually, she was surprised at the perfection of the idea. Kazehaya frowned. _'I don't wanna be Dmitri,'_ he thought, which Sawako immediately picked up.

"No, I can't play Dmitri," he responded as he stood from his crouching position behind the table. Kuronuma slowly rose as well, shyly looking around. Joe scratched his head in confusion and when he spotted Kuronuma timidly standing beside Kazehaya, his mouth formed an 'o.'

"I'm so sorry, Kuronuma, of course he can't be Dmitri," he concluded, panicking. He didn't wanna upset her while she's in her _Sadako-mode_. Kazehaya mentally face-palmed himself as he shook his head. _'Stupid Joe and his stupid conclusions,'_ was all he could think of. Kuronuma blinked, wondering why Joe had pointed her out as Kazehaya's reason for not wanting to play the part.

"No, you idiot, it's not because of Sawako," Kazehaya muttered, rolling his eyes. "I just don't want to be Dmitri. I don't fit the part."

"But if you don't play Dmitri, who will play Dmitri?"

Kazehaya scanned the room for a potential actor who could portray Dmitri as his classmates droned on about how perfectly he fit the role. He was about to lose hope when all of a sudden, the back door slid open and Ryu came in, dragging himself towards his seat. The word _sleepy_ was written all over his face, but Kazehaya didn't care at the moment. He just didn't want to be given the responsibility of playing Dmitri, so he decided to pass on the baton to his best friend. "Why not Ryu? He actually fit the part!"

Chizuru and Ayane turned their heads around, only to find Ryu seating on his chair, his face screaming _what the fuck_. He looked back at the two girls, eyes squinted. He was suspicious. "What's going on?" he asked, his voice hoarse. Chizuru rose from her seat, arms folded and eyes observing her childhood mate. She was making _hmmmm_ sounds, which agitated Ryu. "_Nan da yo_…"

"I second that motion, Kazehaya!" Chizuru suddenly exclaimed, raising her hand sharply the moment she was done with her examination. "He looks like a con man—"

Ryu glared at Chizuru, surprised at the comparison she just made. "Oi, what are you trying to say here—"

"Shh, not now baseball freak," Chizuru whispered as she went on about how perfect he would be for the role. Everyone in class was now eyeing him intently—the guys seemed as though they could see what Chizuru meant; the girls were looking at him dreamily. Ryu even caught one mumbling _my prince charming_. He shuddered. The fuck was that.

"So, does he get to be Dmitri?" Chizuru excitedly asked and everyone nodded. "That's it, then! Ryu, you get to play Dmitri—"

Ryu looked at her, frowning. "By Dmitri, you mean that con guy from your favorite movie—"

"With that, then I nominate Chizu for the role of Anastasia!" Ayane said out of the blue, her pitch a little higher, so everyone could hear her. Silence fell upon the classroom—Ayane could feel two eyes piercing through her back. She turned around and ended up face-to-face with a gaping Chizuru. "Well then, I think you guys believe how perfect she would be for that role, given that all of you are speechless and the room's quiet. I can hear no objections. I guess that's settled—"

"W-w-w-w-wait, Y-Yano-chin, how the- why the- what the _fuck_ are you trying to do here?" she exclaimed, panic coursing through her body. "H-how the hell—do I look like a princess to you? I AM IN NO WAY SOPHISTICATED—"

"Good thing you know," Ryu scoffed, earning him a glare from his panic-stricken friend. He shrugged. "Slip of the tongue."

"As I was saying…I CAN'T BE ANASTASIA—"

"_Gomen na_, Chizu-chan," Sawako mumbled. "B-but I think, you're perfect for the part…?" she continued, unsure whether or not her friend would be delighted to hear her opinion. Chizuru's jaws dropped on the floor.

"_WHAT_!? NOT _YOU_ TOO, SAWAKO!"

"Yeah, think about it," Kazehaya said, nodding his head as he realized Chizuru's compatibility with Anastasia's personality. "Yeah, you're pretty much the Japanese Anastasia, Yoshida."

Chizuru was horrified—it was her nightmares coming true. It wasn't that she disliked girly, frilly, lacey, ruffles and stuff (she could tolerate them, in fact), but she wasn't too sure about acting like a _real_ girl in front of many people, and she wasn't exactly excited about top-billing this year's school play with Ryu. Things were slightly complicated between the two of them, and pairing her up with him, she thought, wasn't a really good idea. The expectations were overwhelming—her classmates sounded pretty confident she could pull it off—and the pressure of being able to deliver well got to her and she froze.

"I…" she opened her mouth before sighing deeply. "…I can't be Anastasia," she muttered with finality, before she fled the room. Everyone watched her step and run out of sight. Ryu sighed.

"Here we go again."

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"Shota, have you seen Chi?" Ryu asked Kazehaya the moment he came in sight. He had been looking for the tomboy ever since lunch break started, but he hasn't had any luck. He tried asking Yano and Sawako (_Kuronami, was it?_ He wondered again and berated himself for always getting his friend's surname wrong) about her whereabouts, but neither of them knew where Chizuru went. Sighing, Ryu wordlessly left the room, continuing his search for his childhood friend. He was starting to feel hopeless until he spotted Kazehaya in the middle of a group of first year admirers. He seemed as though he was in a pinch—his grin wasn't actually graceful and if you looked closely, a vein was throbbing on his temple.

Kazehaya looked up at Ryu and made a face. "_Gomen_, Ryu, I haven't. Have you tried the rooftop?"

The baseball freak shook his head. "Checked it—she wasn't there."

"How about the gym?" Ryu shook his head once more, and Kazehaya made a face that indicated his thinking. "Ah, how 'bout the river bank?"

Ryu frowned, a bit taken aback by the suggestion. "She can't have gone there, it's school time."

"Well, you can never be too sure, right?" Kazehaya grinned as Ryu slowly accepted the possibility that Chizuru might've gone there. He acknowledged the idea and nodded at Kazehaya before sprinting away. The river bank wasn't too far from the school—it'd probably take him a little over two or three minutes to get there—

"Oi, _Sanada_!" someone called out. Ryu rolled his eyes (_Make that five minutes, damn it._). He stopped dead on his tracks and craned his neck so he could see who the hell was preventing him from getting to the river banks as soon as possible. He visibly frowned and groaned when he found out it was only Pin. He turned around again and continued running, much to his adviser's surprise. "Oi, _oi_! Where the fuck do ya think ya goin', punk?!" he exclaimed as he started dashing after his student, but to no avail. Sanada Ryu wasn't the baseball star for nothing, after all. "God damn it. You _and_ Shota, you guys run too recklessly!"

* * *

Chizuru was lazily sprawled on her back on the grass with her right arm over her eyes when she felt rustles coming nearer. She didn't mind, actually—kids usually came around the river bank during this time (it was lunch break, after all), summer was around the corner and interesting bugs and insects flew about. Eventually, the rustles didn't sound as though they were made by little feet—she also noticed that the footsteps were quite heavy for someone so young. She stiffened when a weight settled beside her; a bit curious as to why she could hear the stranger breathing heavily.

"Chi—" Chizuru needn't hear again. She sat up straight, eyes as wide as saucers, her mouth agape.

"Ho-h-how-how-h-how'd you find me here?! Ya stalker or somethin'?!" she exclaimed a little too loudly, and Ryu could only scoff. They _were_ childhood friends, after all—they practically grew up together. Chizuru sighed. "Right, uh…you need anything?"

Ryu quietly handed her a bun wrapped in white paper—one that said _niku_. Overjoyed, Chizuru's lips broke into a full-blown smile as she tore open the wrapper and started to gobble her food. As the young lady mercilessly ravaged her meat bun, Ryu laid himself on the grass with his arms folded and his hands behind his head, enjoying the cool spring-summer breeze (_or perhaps, it was simply the river breeze? _He thought out of the blue), closing his eyes as he basked in the sun with his childhood friend.

"_Gomen na_." Ryu cracked his left eye open as he heard Chizuru speak. "I can't be Anastasia."

"Why, because I'm playing Dmitri?" Ryu was blunt and straight-to-the-point, which Chizuru liked and hated about him—although she was thankful that he cut her some slack.

"…I'm not going to lie, but yeah, kind of…" Ryu got back up, his arms stretched over his folded knees. Chizuru wanted to tell him she was really sorry—she knew she'd upset him. "…I mean, I don't hate you or anything, but ever since you told me how you felt, I—"

"Chizu, I won't do anything." Chizuru blinked. What did he mean by he won't do anything? Ryu looked at her, and one glance urged him to go on. "If you don't want to do those things, it's fine with me, I could improvise," he went on. "But apparently, this kinda really means a lot to the class, so I want you to do it. They really think you could pull Anastasia off. And I kinda think that as well."

"But I'm nothing like a princess—"

"Hey, this is your favorite movie we're talking about. Anastasia wasn't exactly a girly-girl, you know. You really do fit the job description." Chizuru looked at Ryu, wondering where the hell all of these were coming from. Usually, he'd irritate her more while consoling her but this was different. It was more like he was…if she dare say it, _begging_ her to play the part. "Anyways, I won't do anything you don't want me to do. I know you liked this Anastasia movie, you'd always ask me to watch it with you when we were little. There's only a few, if not one, intimate scene, and if that's what you're worried about, then I won't do it."

"Wha—" Chizuru opened her mouth to say something, but somehow, Ryu was spot-on. He was right (_I think?_ She asked herself, unsure). She vividly remembers re-watching the last scene of the movie over-and-over when she was a little girl. Boyish as she may be, she was but still a woman. She was worked up over the fact of the two of them top-billing this little school play, because she was (childishly) worried about a single romantic contact. Eventually, she came around. Ryu had taken away all of her reasons for not accepting the role. Even if she were able to think of a new one, he'd easily bury it down with his logical reasoning and what-shit.

Fuck this guy, how could he make her do all of these things? He wasn't using the puppy eye or any other dirty trick.

She sighed. "Alright. Alright already. I'll do it, if it means so much to you and those dimwits," she muttered and Ryu grinned as he went back down to lay on the grass.

"That's great to hear. I'm looking forward to working with you, Your Royal Highness."

Chizu smiled as she mirrored him. Comfortable silence engulfed them and the sound of the passing water eventually lulled them to sleep, with the fact that they had afternoon periods laying forgotten at the back of their minds.

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_I'll try to update soon, I promise. For the mean time, read and review please! x_


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